Method of forming an EPROM cell and structure therefor

ABSTRACT

An EPROM cell includes a control gate and a control transistor. A portion of the control transistor is formed as a portion of the control gate.

The present application is based on prior U.S. application Ser. No.US10/752,772 filed on 8 Jan. 2004, which is hereby incorporated byreference, and priority thereto for common subject matter is herebyclaimed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates, in general, to electronics, and moreparticularly, to methods of forming semiconductor devices and structure.

In the past, the electronics industry utilized various methods andstructures to build electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM)cells and devices. Typically each EPROM cell utilized an N-channel metaloxide semiconductor (NMOS) transistor that had a floating gate which wascapacitively coupled to a control gate. Each cell also used a controltransistor that applied an electrical potential to the control gate inorder to program the EPROM. When the control transistor was energized inorder to program the EPROM cell, a large depletion region was formedaround the control gate. Because of this large depletion region, thecontrol transistor typically was a large distance away from the controlgate so that the depletion region would not adversely affect theprogramming operation. Examples such an EPROM cell along with theassociated NMOS transistor and control gate are disclosed in U.S. Pat.No. 4,649,520 issued to Boaz Eitan on Mar. 10, 1987 and also in U.S.Pat. No. 5,747,846 issued to Makio Iida et al on May 5, 1998 both ofwhich are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

One problem with previous EPROM cells was the area consumed by the EPROMcell. Because the control transistor was located a large distance awayfrom the control gate, the EPROM cell occupied a large area.

Accordingly, it is desirable to have an EPROM cell that includes afloating gate and a control transistor, and that utilizes a small area.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an enlarged plan view of a portion ofan embodiment of an EPROM cell in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an enlarged cross-sectional view of aportion of an embodiment of the EPROM cell of FIG. 1 in accordance withthe present invention; and

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates an enlarged cut-away perspective viewof a portion of an embodiment of the EPROM cell of FIG. 1 in accordancewith the present invention.

For simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements in the figures arenot necessarily to scale, and the same reference numbers in differentfigures denote the same elements. Additionally, descriptions and detailsof well-known steps and elements are omitted for simplicity of thedescription. Although the devices are explained herein as certainN-channel or P-Channel devices, a person of ordinary skill in the artwill appreciate that complementary devices are also possible inaccordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an enlarged plan view of an embodimentof an EPROM cell 10 that occupies a small area. Cell 10 includes an MOStransistor 11 that functions as the EPROM memory element, a controlgate, and a control transistor 12. As will be seen further hereinafter,control transistor 12 is integrated with the control gate such that aportion of control transistor 12 is also a portion of the control gate.Cell 10 also includes a floating gate 29 that has a first portion 26which functions as the gate of transistor 11, a second portion 27, and athird portion 28 that functions to couple the control gate to transistor11. Second portion 27 of floating gate 29 electrically connects portions26 and 28.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an enlarged cross-sectional view of anembodiment of cell 10 that is shown in FIG. 1 along cross section lines2-2.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates an enlarged cut-away perspective viewof an embodiment of a portion of cell 10 that is shown in FIG. 1. Thisdescription has references to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3. Cell 10 isformed on a semiconductor substrate 25. Typically, substrate 25 includesa bulk semiconductor substrate or bulk substrate 13 that has a buriedlayer 14 formed on a portion of the surface of bulk substrate 13, and anepitaxial layer 17 that is formed on buried layer 14. Typically, bulksubstrate 13 is of a first conductivity type and layers 14 and 17 are ofa second conductivity type. An insulator 31 is formed on the surface oflayer 17. In some areas, insulator 31 forms a gate insulator as will beseen hereinafter. An isolation well 16 of the same conductivity type asbulk substrate 13 generally extends from the surface of layer 17 to bulksubstrate 13 in order to isolate cell 10 from other elements formed onbulk substrate 13. Buried layer 14 typically underlies gate 29 andtransistors 11 and 12 but may not extend across the entire surface ofbulk substrate 13, thus, layer 17 may be formed on the surface of bulksubstrate 13 in some places. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3,layer 14 typically does not extend completely to well 16. In thepreferred embodiment, bulk substrate 13 and well 16 are P-type, layers14 and 17 are N-type, and insulator 31 is silicon dioxide. Layers 14 and17 may be formed by a variety of techniques that are well known to thoseskilled in the art. For example, layer 14 may be formed by doping aportion of bulk substrate 13 using diffusion or ion implantationtechniques and layer 17 maybe epitaxially formed on layer 14.Alternately, layers 14 and 17 may be formed as doped regions of bulksubstrate 13. Layer 14 typically is about two to seven (2-7) micronsthick and preferably is about six microns, and is doped to a resistivitybetween about six and fifteen (6-15) ohm-cm and preferably is about ten(10) ohm-cm. Layer 17 typically is about three to ten (3-10) micronsthick and preferably is about five microns, and is doped to aresistivity between 0.7 and 30.0 ohm-cm and preferably is about one (1)ohm-cm.

Transistor 11 includes a doped region 18 that is formed on the surfaceof substrate 25 and extends a first distance into substrate 25 andpreferably the first distance into layer 17. A source region or source19 of transistor 11 is formed within region 18 by doping a portion ofregion 18. The first distance typically is between about one and five(1-5) microns and preferably is about three (3) microns. A sourceelectrode 21 provides electrical contact to source 19. Similarly, adrain region or drain 23 is formed as another doped area within region18 underlying a drain electrode 22. Portion 26 of floating gate 29 isdisposed overlying a portion of region 18 that is between source 19 anddrain 23 in order to form a gate of transistor 11. A portion ofinsulator 31 is disposed as a gate between portion 26 and region 18.Typically region 18 is about two to four (2-4) microns deep, about tento twenty (10-20) microns wide, and has a doping concentration between1.0e16 cm⁻³ and 1.0e17 cm⁻³. Source 19 and drain 23 have a depth that isless than the depth of region 18 and typically are spaced apart adistance between approximately 0.2 and 10.0 microns. As those skilled inthe art will understand, the spacing distance may shrink as technologyadvances. A body contact 43 is formed within region 18 to facilitateforming contact to region 18 during programming of cell 10 and forbiasing region 18 during other operations of cell 10. A body electrode44 provides electrical connection to contact 43. In the preferredembodiment, region 18 and contact 43 are P-type while source 19 anddrain 23 are N-type. In this preferred embodiment, source 19 and drain23 have a doping concentration that is greater than the dopingconcentration of layer 17 and generally is between about 1.0e19 cm⁻³ and1.0e21 cm⁻³.

Cell 10 includes a doped region 36 that is formed on the surface ofsubstrate 25 within layer 17 and is spaced laterally from region 18. Aswill be seen subsequently, region 36 functions as both the control gateof cell 10 and as the drain of transistor 12.

Transistor 12 includes a doped region 37 that is formed on the surfaceof substrate 25 and extends a second distance into substrate 25 andpreferably the second distance into layer 17. Region 37 functions as thebody of transistor 12. Region 37 assists in increasing the breakdownvoltage of transistor 12 and minimizing the effects of the depletionregion formed around region 36 during programming of cell 10. A source38 of transistor 12 is formed as a doped region within region 37 near toregion 36. Source 38 typically is formed with portion of region 37separating region 36 and source 38. A body contact 39 is also formed asanother doped region that is within region 37 and adjacent to source 38.Positioning region 37 adjacent to region 36 facilitates using a firstportion of region 36 for the drain of transistor 12. In the preferredembodiment, region 37 is formed to touch region 36. Also in thispreferred embodiment, region 37 is doped N-type with a dopingconcentration about 1.0e17 cm⁻³ to 1.0e18 cm⁻³, contact 39 is N-typewith a doping concentration between approximately 1.0e19 cm⁻³ to 1.0e21cm⁻³, and source 38 is P-type with a doping concentration of about1.0e19 cm⁻³ to 1.0e21 cm⁻³. Gate 41 of transistor 12 is formed tooverlay a portion of source 38, a portion of region 37 that is betweensource 38 and region 36, and a first portion of region 36. Whentransistor 12 is enabled, a conduction channel or a channel region oftransistor 12 is formed in the portion of region 37 that is bothunderlying gate 41 and between source 38 and region 36.

Third portion 28 of floating gate 29 is formed to overlay a secondportion of region 36 and is spaced apart from gate 41. The distancebetween gate 41 and portion 28 of gate 29 typically is determined by thephotolithographic capabilities of the process used for forming cell 10.In one example embodiment, gate 41 is formed about one micron fromportion 28. A portion of insulator 31 is formed as a gate insulatorbetween portion 28 and region 36. Region 36 generally is spaced apartfrom region 18 by a distance that is sufficient to ensure that thedepletion region formed around region 36 does not affect the operationof transistor 11. Typically, region 36 is between approximately four tosix (4-6) microns from region 18.

A field oxide 32 typically overlies the portion of substrate 25 that isbetween regions 18 and 36 and underlies second portion 27 of floatinggate 29. Field oxide 32 helps prevent portion 27 from disturbing theoperation of transistor 11 as is well known in the art. Another fieldoxide 33 may also be formed between transistor 12 and well 16.

Programming of cell 10 typically is performed by applying a lowpotential, such as ground, to contact 43, source 19, and drain 23 oftransistor 11, applying a programming voltage to source 38 and bodycontact 39 of transistor 12, and applying a data signal to gate 41.Typically, the programming voltage is a much higher than the normaloperating voltage of transistor 11 and generally is about twenty tothirty volts (20-30V). The normal operating voltage of transistor 11 isthe voltage used under normal operating conditions and typically isbetween three and five volts (3-5V). The data signal is either a lowvoltage, typically ground, for a logic zero or approximately the normaloperating voltage for a logic one. For the example of programming cell10 with a programming voltage of thirty volts and a data of logic one,the data turns-on transistor 12 which generates a voltage on the drainportion of region 36 that is approximately equal to the programmingvoltage of thirty volts. Since region 36 also functions as the controlgate, the thirty volts is applied to the control gate and acorresponding voltage is induced onto portion 28 of floating gate 29.The voltage induced into floating gate 29 is applied across the channelregion of transistor 11 by portion 26 of floating gate 29. The highvoltage across the channel region causes charges to be injected fromregion 18 into floating gate 29 and distributed throughout floating gate29 thereby changing the threshold voltage of transistor 11. The effectsof such a threshold change are well known to those skilled in the art.If the data were a logic zero instead of a logic one, transistor 12would not be turned-on and would not apply the programming voltage tothe control gate, thus, the threshold voltage of transistor 11 would notbe changed. During the programming operation, region 37 assists inincreasing the breakdown voltage of transistor 12 and minimizes theeffects of the depletion region that the high programming voltagecreates around region 36. Without region 37, region 36 could not be usedas both the drain of transistor 12 and the control gate of cell 10.Thus, region 37 facilitates integrating control transistor 12 with thecontrol gate into cell 10 and facilitates using region 36 to form boththe drain of transistor 12 and the control gate. Integrating transistor12 with the control gate reduces the area required to form cell 10. Inmost embodiments, cell 10 is between fifty and seventy-five per cent(50-75%) smaller than prior EPROM cells.

Since regions 18 and 36 are of the same conductivity type, regions 18and 36 can be formed in substrate 25 during the same processingoperation. Region 37 generally is formed after forming regions 18 and36. Source 19, drain 23, and contact 39 can be formed during the sameprocessing operation since they have the same conductivity type.

In view of all of the above, it is evident that a novel device andmethod is disclosed. Included, among other features, is forming acontrol transistor of an EPROM cell as a portion of the control gate ofthe EPROM cell. Also included is using a doped region as the controlgate of the EPROM cell and as the drain of the control transistor. Eachof these features reduces the area required for the EPROM cell.

While the invention is described with specific preferred embodiments, itis evident that many alternatives and variations will be apparent tothose skilled in the semiconductor arts. More specifically the inventionhas been described for a particular N-channel and P-channel MOStransistor structures, although the method is directly applicableforming other MOS transistors as well as BiCMOS, metal semiconductorFETs (MESFETs), HFETs, and other transistor structures. Additionally theconductivity types of the semiconductor regions may be reversed toobtain opposite transistor types.

1. An EPROM cell comprising: a semiconductor substrate; a first dopedregion on the semiconductor substrate; a second doped region formed onthe semiconductor substrate adjacent to the first doped region; acontrol transistor having a gate with a first portion of the gate of thecontrol transistor overlying a first portion of the first doped region;and a floating gate overlying a second portion of the first doped regionwherein the second portion of the first doped region is different fromthe first portion of the first doped region and the gate of the controltransistor does not overlie the second portion of the first dopedregion.
 2. The EPROM cell of claim 1 wherein the first doped region isof a first conductivity type and the second doped region is of a secondconductivity type.
 3. The EPROM cell of claim 1 further including athird doped region within the second doped region and underlying asecond portion of the gate of the control transistor.
 4. The EPROM cellof claim 3 further including a fourth doped region within the seconddoped region and adjacent to the third doped region.
 5. The EPROM cellof claim 4 wherein the first doped region and the third doped region areof a first conductivity type and wherein the second doped region and thefourth doped region are of a second conductivity type.
 6. An EPROM cellcomprising: a substrate having a surface; a first MOS transistor havinga source and a drain within a first doped region of a first conductivitytype wherein the first doped region is on the surface of the substrate,and having a gate disposed between the source and the drain andoverlying a portion of the first doped region; a control gate formed asa first portion of a second doped region of the first conductivity typeon the surface of the substrate; a portion of a floating gate overlyingthe first portion of the second doped region; and a second MOStransistor having a drain that is a second portion of the second dopedregion.
 7. An EPROM cell comprising: a substrate having a surface; afirst MOS transistor having a source and a drain within a first dopedregion of a first conductivity type wherein the first doped region is onthe surface of the substrate, and having a gate disposed between thesource and the drain and overlying a portion of the first doped region;a control gate formed as a first portion of a second doped region of thefirst conductivity type on the surface of the substrate; a portion of afloating gate overlying the first portion of the second doped region; asecond MOS transistor having a drain that is a second portion of thesecond doped region; and a third doped region of a second conductivitytype disposed in the substrate adjacent to the second doped region. 8.The EPROM cell of claim 7 further including a source region that is afourth doped region of the first conductivity type within the thirddoped region.
 9. The EPROM cell of claim 8 further including a gate ofthe second MOS transistor overlying a portion of the source region ofthe second MOS transistor, a portion of the second doped region, and aportion of the third doped region.
 10. The EPROM cell of claim 9 furtherincluding a fifth doped region of the second conductivity type withinthe third doped region.